Training Day

[dolemeck]

Dolemeck was a bit excited about today. He would finally start training in the Danger room with his telekinetic powers. Not just that, but he would also be training with Ilya. Since his arrival, the two formed a unique bond which enabled them both to open about their lives and problems. This made Dolemeck less anxious around the mansion and in class. He was coming off as more relaxed and mature.

The two only worried that Headmistress Ramsey would say something about their closeness. It hung over their heads as they entered the Danger Room. Dolemeck allowed Ilya to wheel him in, and both young men were dressed in their training uniforms (which Dolemeck hated his with a passion). Giving Rachel a salute, Dolemeck smiled as they arrived.

"Dolemeck Night, reporting for training, Headmistress Ramsey!" He sounded more cheerful and care-free than ever. All of this, despite the worry he felt inside.

Comments

[kid_from_chukotka]

He takes a deep, stabilizing breath, and manages to nod. "Okay. Okay, I just... I don't know where we go from here. Dolemeck said there's a group for, um, people who've been through what I have that meets in the same building his does. But that's a lot of people and I don't know if I can admit something like that in front of a group. Just explaining a bad flashback I had to him was really hard. People don't talk about this. Not from when and where I'm from."

Everything is unfamiliar territory. It feels good to have said something because that opened up the door to him that there are options and he's not alone. But he would be pushing himself not to bolt from a support group the second he got in the door. (Remarkably, two teenage boys did not form a great psychological treatment plan in one conversation.) He's still unclear on what his options really are and part of him feels like maybe he shouldn't have said anything, maybe it would've been better if he'd kept his mouth shut. Dolemeck and the Headmistress are already looking at him differently - what if they start thinking of him as just weak, broken little Ilya? Can they really still respect him knowing what happened?

[nohoundsallowed]

"Another one of the reasons I'd have to vet it. I don't think you're in the right frame of mind to open up to a group of strangers. We'll work on it together on a regular schedule. Just you and me. After awhile, we'll look at the option of attending a support group, but it's not something you have to worry about now. No one here is going to force you to do anything you really don't want to." She was not looking at him any different than when he had first arrived. She had read through SHIELD's file on him a couple time to make sure she had a gist of some of psychological problems Ilya had. That he was revealing his secrets to her on his own was encouraging. Even if was a stuttered and almost immediately mentally recriminated fashion.

[kid_from_chukotka]

"I don't know if I'm in the right frame of mind or not. All of this is really confusing, and really hard to explain. So if you know what to do, I'll do that. I guess talking to one person makes more sense... it's a lot less, well, intimidating." But in all fairness, Dolemeck had good intentions. It's just that between the two of them they have not one iota or psychological knowledge, and Ilya operates under the assumption he's an idiot and everyone, even other kids his own age, will know better than he does what to do.

If he can just figure out how the feeling of being cold all the time and how the dreams of ice tie into things, maybe he can be normal. Maybe they can fix what's wrong with him. It's small, but it's a spark of hope, and he needs that right now, needs something to help him believe in a better future.

"You're really okay with taking time out just for someone like me? I mean, I'm..." Ilya doesn't finish that sentence, unknowingly broadcasting the end of it in his voice, body language and mind: 'I'm not worth it; I'm no one'.

[nohoundsallowed]

"It is confusing being from a different time and place. The benchmarks you used to have no longer apply for the most part. Times change and with them the attitudes and knowledge available." Rachel was a walking example of it, but that was not something to mention now. She wanted Ilya to try to adjust on his own. He had only been at Xavier's a handful of days.

"Your one of my students now. One of my priorities is making sure you get the education and help you deserve. Which is much more than you let yourself believe." She quirked an eyebrow to let him know she keeps catching what he broadcasts. "You are someone, Ilya. You're a student here, a survivor of unimaginable hardships, and a young man with a wide-open future ahead of him."

[kid_from_chukotka]

"A lot of things seem to have changed for the better. And I don't dislike the world. There are so many good things in it - but it's so much to take in. SHIELD tried to prep me for it." Then again, was there really a way to prep someone for that?

He winced, not realizing until then she'd caught what he thought. Normally he was terrible at projecting thoughts; she was just good enough at catching them to make up for it. It's an unfamiliar sensation. "Sorry. I know things have changed and people look at me differently here. It's just that to me, being second-class was part of life, and it doesn't feel like it was that long ago."

[nohoundsallowed]

"Both things we can work on," she assured with a gentle smile. "I'll let you get your bearings around campus for a few days. Our new dorms are opening up real soon. After you get moved in there, we'll start our regular counseling sessions. Sound good to you?"

She looked at him, patiently waiting for an answer. Whatever answer he thought to give or actually gave.

[kid_from_chukotka]

"Okay. That - that sounds better than the group idea by a lot. I just have a question about roommates. I get nightmares. Not just about this subject, either, these weird ones where I'm stuck in the ice, too, or I can't move and blue light is everywhere. Sometimes I panic and thrash around when I wake up. So that means I'm going to wake up my roommate, even if I try not to. I just..." Well, he didn't want to be an asshole roommate who woke the guy stuck with him up at three AM every night like clockwork. Especially since everyone here had been so nice to him. "I guess I'd like to know if you have some idea on how to make the nightmares at least the normal, quiet kind that most people have."

[nohoundsallowed]

"In all honesty, nothing that works immediately. I'll keep that in mind when I review the roommate pairings." Though she did have an idea about which student would not be bothered by late night disturbances.

"Everyone who comes to Xavier's has their own unique set of circumstances. When you meet your roommate, just explain the situation and that you're going to work on lessening the nighttime disruptions. You'll run into more sympathy than bother if you're up front about it."

[kid_from_chukotka]

"Thank you. For the advice, and for everything. It's really weird to talk about any of this, but it feels a little better. Not perfect, but like I'm not so alone anymore. I've, well, I've felt like I was alone for a long time."

Thank God he's Russian and doesn't do physical displays of affection, or he almost feels like he would hug her. Which would just be weird for everyone involved - aaaand she probably just heard that. Instinctively, he bit down on his lip. The habit had been there long before his mutation had; it was just a thing in his family.

[nohoundsallowed]

"Xavier's is here to show young people they're not alone. Whatever I and my staff can do to help you, we will." Even if already evidenced, that help would not go like he thought it would. Rachel, despite looking in her late twenties, was so very far removed from being a teenager. She looked well past the immediacy for her students.

"We'll pretend the mental Russian hug didn't happen," she said with a slight smile. "You can go now, Ilya. Enjoy the rest of your day. You did well in here."

[dolemeck]

Dolemeck had waited for Ilya outside of the Danger room, just as he had promised. However, he had fallen asleep in his chair due to just exhausting himself with his own session (and the deep dread he felt about being placed on probation). He did not snore, he just looked peaceful.

[kid_from_chukotka]

Ilya was horrified she'd caught the hug thought - how hideously improper was that to think about the Headmistress?! - and fled immediately. At the sight of Dolemeck, though, his first thought was 'he looks like I feel after all that'.

But he honestly didn't want to wake him up. He just looked so peaceful. Like a baby reindeer - aaand that was another reason to learn how to shield his thoughts right there, because there were certain comparisons that just weren't manly in any century.